From the confines of arrowhead and pickerelweed aquatic plants and native bamboo came the soft murmur of trickling water, punctuated by the throaty Hurumpf! of a bellowing bullfrog.

Just beyond was a place setting of prairie plants, and out ahead was a sandy hill, filled with the plant types found at Headlands Dunes State Nature Preserve in Painesville Township.

Though this amalgamation of ecological types might seem strange in the upscale Columbus suburb of Bexley, the fact that they are part of the grounds of the governor's residence makes it stranger still.

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It is the only governor's residence in the United States whose grounds are devoted largely to showcasing native plant species in their natural environment.

Still a work in progress, the Governor's Residence and Heritage Garden began in 2000 by then-first lady Hope Taft.

Taft, who relished people's gifts of wildflowers, had them incorporated into the gardens of the residence to tell a story about Ohio's unique place in the natural world.

Her inspiration was a visit to Kirtland's Holden Arboretum and its miniaturized cultivated, native and non-native plant species gardens.

Today's Ohio first lady, Frances Strickland, continues with the project, keeping Taft as head "gardener," and thus proclaiming that this is a truly bipartisan effort.

Open to the public on Tuesdays for hour-long free guided tours, the Heritage Gardens is a microcosm of bogs, water gardens, sand dunes, oak openings, glaciated, unglaciated, woodland and other biodiverse areas comprising Ohio.

About 30,000 people visit the gardens on a reservation-required basis, a number that is expected to grow along with the gardens' anticipated expansion.

Another still-evolving portion -- and a major Strickland thrust -- is a separate small farm-produce section. Here, a cutting from a tree planted by Ohio's own John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, is found along with a decoratively painted life-size ceramic pig.

Some of the produce grown here will go to an area food bank.

Even the wild cranberries grown in the bog garden are used in the residence's kitchen.

Complementing it all environmentally are solar panels that power the security building, and a 14,000-gallon underground rain water-collection system that's used to hydrate plants that cannot tolerate what flows from the tap.

"It's amazing what's been done with just 3 acres," said Guy Denny, a former Willoughby-Eastlake school teacher and retired chief of the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves.

Denny, a volunteer technical adviser to the project, has worked closely with Taft and Strickland in mapping out the grounds, determining which wildflower and native plants should be included as well as what lies ahead.

Similarly assisting Taft and the gardens is Bill Hendricks, president of Perry Township-based Klyn Nurseries.

"Over the years we've supplied various plant materials for the gardens, including its Appalachian Garden," Hendricks said. "And I've worked with Hope (Taft) on the gardens, making recommendations."

The gardens likewise feature native plants that are rare, endangered or found in only a few places in Ohio. Among them is the Lakeside daisy.

Not surprisingly, these plants are drawing a host of wild guests, such as hummingbirds, various butterfly species and the ever-present bumblebee, all of which relish the varied wildflowers.

"If you build it, they will come," said Denny. "But what this project demonstrates best is how native plants can be incorporated with non-native plant species into a formal garden setting and make it all work.

"The idea was to build a functioning ecosystem,"

An item the gardens will include in the future is a planned geological walk that will wind along the residence's front yard. This path will highlight Ohio's geological history, ending at a 16-ton glaciated boulder that has already been set in place.

The entire project is almost exclusively being done by volunteers with monetary donations from the Governor's Residence and Heritage Garden Friends program. Taft is instrumental in this phase, too.

"I'm just glad that Frances has put me in charge of the Heritage Garden committee," she said. "But I do miss the weeding."

Asked which is her favorite garden, Taft replied it's "whatever's in bloom."

Future plans also call for a visitor's center, public restrooms and printed materials to help visitors follow along as their tour guide talks.